Blond Hair
by Mistress.Samantha
Summary: Charlie has a fascination with blond hair. When Luna comes over to visit at the Burrow, what does Charlie think?
1. Bitter Like a Lemon

**BLOND HAIR ****– Charlie has an obsession with blond hair. Then he meets Luna. What **_**does**_** he think? **

**A/N:** Charlie Weasley! Get here and marry me NOW!

Ummm... beside that: I know this is a highly unorthodox pairing. But there's not really that many people to ship for this kind of fic if you leave out incest. But I suppose it is a highly interesting pairing which I have an urge to look into further now.

Chapter Two of ImPerfect is well on it's way but I suddenly had this idea which just HAD to be written.

Also, not HBP and/or DH compliant. insert joke about denial and Egypt here

**Disclaimer:** That people died is prove enough that I don't own anything.

* * *

Charlie frowned. Ron had been notorious for having friends at the burrow over the holidays. Harry and Hermione practically lived here even now, a year after graduation and had become part of the family. But for Ginny to have someone over was highly unusual, especially that she too had graduated.

But here she was, a slender girl with long straight blond hair. Charlie was a sucker for blond hair. _On women_, he mentally added quickly. Her large grey eyes seemed eerily wise although they didn't seem to focus on anything. Charlie frowned. He knew her from somewhere, that empty stare was familiar.

Suddenly it hit him, it was Luna Lovegood. He climbed down from the tree he was sitting in to walk to the house and greet the guest or his mother would scold him in front of the whole family for his bad manners. Being the oldest son to be home, that certainly wouldn't do.

At dinner that day, Charlie just happened to be seated right across from Luna. Politely, he started to make some conversation with her.

"So Luna, what do you want to do after graduation," he asked, munching away on a chicken leg.

Luna stared at him – or was it the wall above his head? – without reacting.

"Luna?" He tried again.

"What? Oh. You're Charlie, aren't you? Ginny likes you," she said dreamily. Charlie nearly choked on his chicken.

"Ginny is supposed to like me. She's my sister," he said, smirking.

"You shouldn't take things for granted like that. Only those who are grateful are able to find the Rigid Footed Howlid," she replied, clearly not catching onto the joke. Charlie decided to remain silent, not knowing what to say. She was certainly just as strange as her father.

He resorted to just watching her. She nibbled on some carrots carefully, as if they were about to explode. _With her oddities, it wouldn't surprise me if she really thought they might_, Charlie thought, scowling. He wasn't used to people being so, for lack of better words, odd.

Having finished with her carrots, she licked her lips clean of any gravy. She then proceeded to eat her potatoes – without any gravy at all. Charlie drifted off, talking to others and thinking his own thoughts.

"You work with dragons," said Luna suddenly.

"What?" exclaimed Charlie, completely caught unawares that Luna would suddenly decide to talk to him.

"I said," repeated Luna, as if talking to an elderly person, "You work with dragons." _She probably does thinks of me as elderly_, thought Charlie, an ironic smile twisting onto his face.

"Er. Yes. I do," I replied, a little unsure of what she was expecting. Luna though, stared off into space again, brushing her long blond hair out of face thoughtfully. Charlie found himself mesmerized by her hair, many girls would kill to have hair like that.

"Have you ever met a Green Spotted Fluxhorse?" she said suddenly snapping out of her reverie. "They tend to stay close to dragons, you know."

"Er. No," replied Charlie. "I haven't. Remind me again, what are Green Striped Fluxsheep? Or whatever it was," he added, clearly confused. He had been thinking about the girl he had asked out the other day, of her lovely blond hair and large eyes and her cute smile. Their date was tomorrow.

"Charlie!" exclaimed Luna. "Green Spotted Fluxhorses. Surely you must have heard of them," she added, clearly shocked. Fred and George who were sitting next to Charlie were snickering, clearly amused that their older brother was being lectured by a chit of a girl straight from school.

"Er. I haven't. I don't know much about magical creatures other than dragons," he tried to explain. Clearly that wasn't true, Charlie loved all animals. But he was trying hard not to offend their guest, as he repeatedly had to remind himself. Luna though, was staring at Fred and George now. _Probably counting if they have the same number of freckles_, thought Charlie, glad that her attention was elsewhere.

"You say er a lot, Charlie. Have you ever thought about getting therapy?" This time Charlie could only gape at Luna. "Surely it can't be healthy to stutter like that. Do you even get any girls? It's terribly unattractive." Luna continued. Slowly, Charlie closed his mouth. He could hear the twins laughing next to him but Luna didn't seem to be aware that she had said anything controversial.

"I –" Charlie swallowed the 'er', "I – I manage," he choked out.

Later that evening, he was sat in the living room with his parents. The couples had all tried to find the privacy and the twins were listening to Luna tell them about something. Luna looked quite serious, her eyes large and her posture quite stiff but the twins were laughing like they had the time of their life.

"So Charlie," said his mother. "When are you going back to Romania? You didn't say how long you'd be staying here."

"I don't know to be honest," replied Charlie. "For now, I've got three weeks holiday with a possibility of making it four but they've mentioned something about me transferring to Wales."

"Oh Charlie, dear! Wasn't there some girl you liked back in Romania?" said his mother, concerned. "Not that we don't want you here. We'd love having you closer again." Charlie laughed.

"No, there's no girl in Romania. Quit trying to get me to marry, mom."

"But Charlie. All your brothers –"

"Mom! I'll take my time, thank you." Charlie scowled.

Bill and Fleur were honeymooning in her native France, Ron and Hermione were an item as were Ginny and Harry. The twins would never settle down, there was no hope for them. All his mother's expectations rested on him now and he didn't like it one bit.

"But Charlie, you aren't the youngest anymore either! You're 27. At your age we already had three children," Molly continued. Charlie sighed and resigned himself to a long lecture from his mother.

The next day passed rather uneventful. Charlie and his siblings, as well as Harry, played some quidditch while Hermione was reading, trying her best not to snap at Luna who was occasionally asking her about some mystical animals.

As the evening drew closer, Charlie excused himself and got ready to take a shower. As he stood under the hot water, he closed his eyes and thought back to the day he had met Valerie. He had been at a muggle pub with some of his friends from Hogwarts. She had been there with some colleges from work and it had immediately clicked. She was pretty, just his type. Long blond hair, womanly figure but short.

He had been immediately entrance and bought her several drinks throughout the evening. When they had both been sufficiently drunk, they had gone outside for a short but passionate snogging session. Unfortunately, her friends had decided they must leave then, before any more could happen.

He felt himself harden has he remembered her small body pressed against him, her round breasts soft against his chest and her small hands against his shoulders. Her nipples had hardened under his fingers and her hands had expertly wandered down his body to grab his cock and fondled it through his pants.

He felt his own hand involuntary do the same as he leaned back against the wall. Grasping his manhood, he gasped softly, trying as always at the Burrow to be quiet. Slowly he moved his hand up and down –

"Shit," he cursed. He was trying to score tonight. No, he was certain to score tonight. No sense in out powering himself before that. He turned the water colder and soon got out of the shower.

His date went well. Valerie was wearing a short black dress showing off her legs and breasts to her best advantage. Charlie liked her curves, cat like eyes and full lips. Valerie liked his broad chest and large hands. It was a perfect match.

After dinner they went dancing at a local club. Valerie was a muggle and Charlie let her choose the venues to go to. Charlie defiantly liked dating muggles, no chance of them recognizing him as a Weasley and moderately famous dragon keeper. Sure, there wasn't much to talk about with a muggle women who didn't know he was a wizard, but neither of them had come to talk.

They were dancing closely, sharing the occasional kiss. Her body was warm against his.

"So Valerie, how 'bout we head to your place for a coffee or so?" he asked, starting to get bored by just dancing.

"Why mine?" she replied, eyebrows raised. "Why not yours?"

"I'm here on holiday only dear, so I stay with my parents. Not a good idea at all, I tell you," he replied, shuddering at the thought of what his mother would do if she ever found out he wasn't a pure and innocent virgin.

"Well, then my place it is," she replied softly, pressing her lips to his.

Soon enough they had walked back to her place. They hadn't been able to refrain from groping each other on the short walk there and they tumbled through the door, hands never leaving each other.

"Oh Valerie," moaned Charlie, as her lips slowly caressed his collarbone, her small hands deftly unbuttoning his shirt. "You're a dream come true."

"Glad to know that I can be of service," replied Valerie, looking up through her thick lashes suggestively. Charlie loved it when women looked at him like that, naughty pretending to be innocent.

Several hours later, Charlie left Valerie's apartment, thoroughly satisfied with how the evening had turned out. Making sure, he had all his belongings, he walked softly closed her apartment door behind him. It wasn't like he was going to come back.

Back at the Burrow, Charlie tiptoed up the stairs to his and Bill's room. Fortunately Bill wasn't there so he had a room all to himself. Harry bunked with Ron and Hermione with Ginny although he doubted the sleeping arrangements had stayed like that for long.

Undressing quickly he suddenly felt his stomach growl. Quietly cursing, he decided to go back downstairs for a midnight snack. Wearing nothing but his boxers he tiptoed back down the stairs again.

Not wanting to wake anyone – and get into trouble for being out so late – he didn't switch the light on but grabbed a sandwich and sat at the table in the dark. Slowly he ate one sandwich, then an other.

"Are you sure there's no Geterms in the bread?"

Charlie almost fell out of his chair. He spluttered and looked around. He didn't see much, it was still dark.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. But you really should be careful of Geterms. They're really dangerous," came the voice again. Charlie curse under his breath. It had be that Luna girl. No one else would say something that ridiculous. Geterms were imaginary creatures that were said to live in cookies. It was meant to frighten children from eating cookies in secret.

"Switch the light on, will you?" he said tiredly. "I don't like talking to people I can't see." As soon as he said this, he sincerely hoped she wouldn't go off about some odd creature that can only be found in darkness when you talk to it.

She didn't. But she didn't switch on the light either.

"Luna?" he ventured, wishing he'd brought his wand downstairs with him. When no reply came, he got up himself to find the light switch at the wall. When he found it and had switched on the light, he turned around. Luna was standing by the door to the garden, holding a glass of milk. She was wearing a long, white cotton nightgown and her long blond hair flowed down freely to her waist.

"Why are you up so late? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Charlie asked. After all, she was just as old as his baby-sister. It never occurred to him that she too was grown up woman by now.

"I was watching the stars," Luna replied calmly.

"What? No mythical creatures?" Charlie replied, genuinely surprised. Luna smiled. That was the first genuine smile of her that he had ever seen.

"There's mystery in the stars too. Venus is bright tonight," Luna said, the smile had faded from her face.

"Er – and what does that mean?" asked Charlie. Astronomy or even worse Astrology hadn't been his strong point. To be honest, Luna sounded a lot like the centaurs and everyone knew _they_ were crazy.

"Honestly Charlie. Ginny says you're smart," Luna said, sounding almost as if she was scolding him. "Venus is the planet of love and passion. It is a good night for lovers and romantics." Luna turned a little to stare out at the night sky.

"Er. I see. I never liked Astrology," replied Charlie. It had indeed been a passionate night for him. Perhaps there was something to Astrology after all. But that wasn't for this girl to know.

"You're doing it again," stated Luna simply.

"What?"

"The stuttering and stammering. You keep saying 'er'," stated Luna simply. Charlie blushed. Why was he blushing? Some chit of a girl was embarrassing him to the extent that he stammered. That was what was the matter. _But really_, Charlie scolded himself, it was her fault. _She was just plain odd. No one would know what to say to her._ A little voice in his head kept saying that everyone else seemed to manage but he successfully ignored it.

"Er." _Damm_, he cursed himself silently. "I'm going off to bed again," he said quickly, hoping to get himself out of this conversation quickly. "Good Night, Luna."

He quickly turned around and found himself millimetres away from the open door. Taking a step back, he cursed in his head. Quickly he headed back to his room.

That night Charlie dreamt of long blond hair. Valerie's cat like eyes mixed with large grey eyes that stared at him questioningly and Valerie's full red lips often became replaced with smaller, thinner pink ones. Charlie tossed and turned, not finding any peace. He awoke a few hours before dawn with a raging hard one.

_Gee man_, he thought. _You had sex three times last night and still can't get enough? _Charlie knew that feeling. No matter what he did, he just wasn't satisfied. He growled but moved to make himself more comfortable, his hands already sliding beneath his boxers.

The next day, Charlie was lying on the meadow beyond the Burrow, reading a book about dragon pests when Luna came out to join him. _Oh dear_, he thought, trying to pretend that he was sleeping. Luna, although she surely noticed that he wasn't really sleeping, just sat down next to him and watched him. Charlie could feel her presence despite his eyes being closed.

After a few minutes, pretending to be asleep got a little boring and Charlie opened his eyes slowly to find Luna reading his book, completely absorbed. Her hair was falling over her shoulders hiding her face almost completely from view. The book was resting on her knees, one of her hands was fingering the pages, the other vanished behind her hair towards her mouth, Charlie assumed she was chewing on her nails. Suddenly content, Charlie lay back again and closed his eyes. Soon he had drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up again, the first thing he saw was long blond hair on the grass next to him. _I love blond hair_, he thought dreamily. Suddenly, the person next to him stirred and Charlie found himself staring into large grey eyes. Memories from last night's dream came rushing back as did the feelings associated with it. He found himself grinning in what he believed was a very sexy manner when he felt his body respond.

"Can you do a spell against nargles on me please?"

"Er -," replied Charlie, suddenly back in reality, "I don't know any spells against nargles." His mind was racing, _I really shouldn't think about Valerie that much, she was only a fling_. As his body cooled down enough to allow him to think more rational thoughts, he realized that Luna was still staring at him questioningly.

"Er – you could show me and then I'd do it?" he said hesitantly, not sure if being taught a spell against imaginary creatures made one self a little insane too.

"You don't believe in nargles," said Luna, completely unaware of his question. "That's quite okay, I'm used to people thinking me odd." Despite her cheery voice, Charlie didn't think that she was as unaffected as she let on.

Something was working in Charlie's mind. These things she was saying, he'd heard them before. And then he remembered. Harry had been telling them about Luna some summers ago, about how people hid her things and about how she didn't seem to mind that much. Charlie didn't think anyone could take bullying like that and be unaffected.

"Luna, I –" Charlie began, unsure of what to say. He wanted to say something helpful and nice but couldn't get around the fact that he just _didn't_ believe in nargles. To his surprise, Luna was suddenly smiling again. It lit up her whole face and brought a sparkle to her eyes. He shook his head. He shouldn't think about a girl like that, should he?

"You didn't start a sentence with 'er', that's a really good thing," she said, explaining her smile. Charlie was gaping again. Once a conversation, Luna always seemed to say something so odd, that there was no response to it. While he was still trying to find a suitable response, he didn't notice that Luna had gotten up and was starting to walk towards the house.

"I'm going back and help your mother with dinner," she said, turning back, "I used to love preparing dinner with my mother." And with that, she had left him alone with his thoughts.

That evening, Charlie sat in the living room with his whole family, musing that afternoon. He reasoned with himself, that he only thought about Luna that much because she was different and he wanted to help her. It wasn't _natural_ to be treated like she often was.

"Ginny, can I speak to you for a moment please?" he said to his sister who was sitting on the floor with Luna, both reading some magazines. _I'll never understand those girly magazines_, he thought.

"Sure, let's go outside," replied Ginny. She looked puzzled. _Probably thinking I need girlfriend advice or something_, thought Charlie, amused.

Once outside, Ginny sat on the grass.

"So, you seem so serious, brother mine. What do you want to talk about? Is it that girlfriend of yours? The one you went out with the other night?" she said, looking up at him.

Charlie almost laughed out loud. Instead he bit back a grin. _You were right again, mate_, he thought to himself.

"No, no, Valerie wasn't something serious, Gin," he said, biting his cheek to keep from laughing. His sister was so naïve, a naïve romantic. "It's about Luna actually. You know her well, don't you?" Charlie just hoped that Ginny wouldn't get any wrong ideas about his interest in Luna.

"Well, I'm her best – only rather – friend," replied Ginny, surprised. "Why do you ask? Please don't tell me you think her weird and are going to say nasty things about her."

"WHAT?" Charlie almost shouted. "Why would I say nasty things about her?" he continued, a little more quiet but still outraged. _How can Ginny think that of me?_ he wondered. To her credit, Ginny did look a bit abashed.

"Sorry. It's just that people always do and I'm rather sick of it. She says she doesn't mind but – well. I would if I were her," said Ginny. Charlie sat on the ground next to her rather unceremoniously, burying his head in his hands. So it was true. Luna had been bullied at school. Charlie didn't even know why it bothered him that much.

"She said something to that effect this afternoon so I was wondering – well, I was wondering some things. She said lots of people thought her odd, that she was used to it. And then I remembered Harry talking about Luna once, saying how people hid her things but that she never seemed to mind. How can anyone not mind something like that?" Charlie was quite surprised at himself. He hadn't meant to talk so much or so passionately. He was glad it was dark because he could feel a blush creeping up the back of his neck. _What would Ginny think if she saw that?_ he thought._ She'd think I was a pervert. And this time, I haven't even done anything!_

"Oh," said Ginny. "I'm sorry. I should have known you were a decent guy."

"No need to apologize Gin, you meant well," said Charlie, wrapping his arm around his baby sister. "Now tell me, is Luna really that unaffected as she pretends?"

"Well, Luna's pretty tough I suppose, but honestly, I think it does get to her. She just doesn't want to show everyone that they upset her. Doesn't want to give them that satisfaction," replied Ginny thoughtfully, leaning into her big brother. Charlie was convinced that he was her favorite big brother.

"Doesn't she have anyone to stick up for her? I mean a boyfriend or something?" Even Charlie, didn't know where that had come from. Ginny laughed slightly but quickly caught herself.

"No. No, there's no boyfriend. Luna doesn't really have any good friends. I like her but it's difficult. Most other people don't like her and I don't want to sacrifice everything for her either. But I stick up for her when people say things. Harry did too and Neville when he could work up the guts," said Ginny slowly. Charlie pondered this for a while.

"She said something else that I thought was odd. When she left to help mom in the kitchen, she said she _used_ to like to help her mom in the kitchen. Do her parents think her odd too?" The thought disturbed him. He was used to his family's unwavering support.

"No," said Ginny quietly. "It's rather terrible." She paused for a while, snuggling closer to her big brother. _Even when they had both been children, she'd liked to do that_, mused Charlie. She liked 

cuddling people for comfort. For Ginny to call something 'terrible' though, it really must be awful. "Her mother was a researcher. She – she died," continued Ginny. "When Luna was nine."

Charlie's heart clenched. The thought of losing his mother made him, a grownup, come close to tears. He couldn't imagine what it must have done to a nine year old. He held Ginny closer, sensing that the thought disturbed her even more than him. Family was everything for the Weasleys.

After a while, Charlie focused his thoughts back on Luna. Visions of blond hair and big, _sad_ grey eyes flashed through his mind. His body reacted in a thoroughly unexpected way – Charlie felt his heart clench and his arms tightened around Ginny, trying to hug all the pain in the world away.

"Well, is she at least looking into a career where she'll be respected by her co-workers? She could always work for the Quibbler, she reads that a lot, doesn't she?" he mused.

"No. She doesn't want to work for the Quibbler. Her father's the editor and she doesn't want people to think she couldn't get a job for herself, you know," replied Ginny.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense," replied Charlie.

Both siblings were lost in their own thoughts for a while, both wanting to help the blond girl.

"But Charlie, I don't know how you did it, but I really gotta thank you. Somehow you got her interested in real animals. She's been reading old copies of _A Dragon Keeper's_ all evening," said Ginny suddenly. Charlie looked up, startled.

"Well, she started browsing one of my dragon books this afternoon but I didn't give it to her or anything," he said, slowly. _Blond hair AND dragons, now that is something_, he couldn't stop himself from thinking. Resolutely, he added brown, cat like eyes to the image.

A little while later, having just sat there in comfortable silence, Charlie felt Ginny shiver a little.

"Come on, little sister. Let's go back inside," Charlie said, getting up. He extended his hand to her and, like the true gentleman he was, walked her back to the living room.

After sitting, chatting to Ron and Hermione a while, he noticed that the two would rather be alone now. _Dammit. I'd rather not be alone right now_, he thought. Harry was visiting Sirius for a few days, so he was sure that Ginny wouldn't just leave Luna. With nothing to feel guilty about, he said his good byes and left the Burrow. He needed some distraction.

On a spur of the moment, he aparted to the street Valerie lived. Couldn't hurt to see what she was up to tonight, could it? He walked towards her flat, seeing lights on. He hoped that she was alone but wanting company. He rang the doorbell.

"Charlie! What are you doing here? Come in!" Valerie said. Charlie though, found it hard to move. She was wearing only a towel, her long blond hair damp. She must have just taken a shower. Walking into her flat slowly, he closed the door behind him, his eyes never leaving her.

"Well, I was wondering what you were doing tonight, my dear," he said, grinning. "Personally, I was looking for a bit of company." Valerie smiled, looking up at him through her thick eye lashes. Suddenly, with no warning she let go of her towel.

Charlie got the idea immediately and quickly discarded his clothes. Valerie just stood there, waiting although he noticed a red flush creeping up over her body. _I wonder if she does this with many guys? I suppose I do this with many girls_, he thought. He liked knowing what his girls did but he didn't _care_.

Then he stood in front of her, in all his glory. His cock was jutting out, painfully hard. But he moved slowly. By Merlin, he wasn't going to go back home unsatisfied again.

In the end though, he did. Valerie was good but it seemed like she wasn't good enough. They'd shared an evening of wild, passionate sex and Charlie had found some release in her soft warm body, his face buried in her long blond hair for as long as possible. But even 4 orgasms a night didn't leave him satisfied. They just left him tired.

As Charlie stumbled into the burrow just before 4am, he noticed that there was a light on in the kitchen. Quietly moving through the corridor, he opened the kitchen door slightly to find Luna sitting at the kitchen table, browsing through some magazines he now noticed to be old editions of _A Dragon's Keeper_.

"Luna! What are you doing up so late?" he asked, both shocked and worried.

"More like 'so early', isn't it?" she replied without looking up. She sounded tired. Cautiously, Charlie walked over to sit opposite her at the big kitchen table.

"Well, what are you doing up this early? Are you alright?" Charlie continued, the worry evident in his voice. _Merlin, why do I even care if she gets enough sleep?_

"Actually, I was reading these and lost track of time. You don't mind me reading your magazines, do you?" she said. This time she looked up and Charlie noticed that she also looked slightly worried. He growled, angry that she should be so insecure. "It's just that Harry came back and I was a bit bored," she continued quickly. Charlie cursed the couple silently. _Leaving Luna alone although she was a guest! Outrageous!_ He opened his mouth to say something but Luna interrupted him again. "And I finished all of these that I could find," she rushed on, holding up the magazine, "so I was waiting for you to ask you if I could borrow a book on dragons or so." He noticed that she blushed a little.

_Merlin, she waited up for me. Blond hair waiting up for me._ Charlie himself found a blush creeping up his neck at these thoughts. _She's my baby sister's friend! Merlin's pants. I really should get a bit more sleep, then perhaps I'll be thinking a bit more clearly. _

He noticed Luna still staring at him, obviously waiting for a reply.

"Er –" No! I will not be reduced to a blubbering fool in front of this chit, "Sure you can. But listen, it's 4am. You should get some sleep. I'll find you some books tomorrow, okay?" He smiled, hoping she wouldn't notice his awkwardness. Since when did he feel awkward around women anyhow? Let alone girls!

"Sure, sounds great," replied Luna, a big smile spreading over her face, again lighting up her face and making her big grey eyes sparkle. She got up, waved at him while mouthing goodbye and was out of the door.

Charlie leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Luna sure seemed glad to get out of his company. How odd, she never used to mind my company before. Perhaps she was just tired, thought Charlie, but his thoughts were a blur, his eyelids were dropping and he couldn't get rid of the fear that Luna didn't like being around him.

Slowly he headed for bed. Again, his dreams were filled with blond hair but this time there were only grey eyes. He woke the next morning in a mess. Groaning, he pushed the dream far away in his thoughts and for a while successfully forgetting it, as he waved his wand to clean his bed and turned around to sleep some more.

The next time he awakened to a knocking at his door. He quickly made sure he hadn't soiled his sheets again and shouted for whoever it was to come in.

"Luna!" he croaked, sitting up in bed, blinking at the light streaming in through the door. He'd expected it to be one of his brothers or perhaps his mother, nagging for him to finally get up.

"Hi Charlie," the girl replied, standing in the door. "You said you'd find some books for me to read this morning. It's 1am." She smiled, probably at his incredulous look. "Actually, your mother send me to tell you lunch will be ready in twenty minutes."

Charlie let himself fall back onto the bed with a loud 'thump'.

"Sure. I'll be down in a few," he said, placing his hands over his face in a desperate attempts to block out the light. _You just don't want to look at her, you think she's yummy,_ a nasty voice in head said. _No!_ the more rational part of his brain shouted. Nevertheless, he removed his hands from his face only when he had heard the door shut.

_Where did that come from anyhow? Luna Lovegood is not yummy. I'm tired and her hair reminds me of Valerie, that's all_, Charlie continued to reason with himself while he dressed.

True to his word, he dug out a few more simple books about dragons for Luna and over the next few days, she even asked him occasionally if she didn't understand something.

Charlie visited Valerie regularly, mostly coming back around 2am to find Luna sitting in the kitchen. They'd have a cup of tea or hot chocolate while she bombarded him with the questions that had accumulated throughout the evening. Most nights, they only headed for bed around 3am.

One night, Charlie was lying next to Valerie in her bed. She was breathing heavy, exhausted from his attentions. He glanced at the clock, 2:10 it read. _I'm late tonight_, he found himself thinking. But his cock had a mind of it's own it seemed, still hard. _Well, let's make this one quick_, he thought to 

himself and turned. He reached out to trail his hand over Valerie's stomach and up to fondle her breasts as he kissed her earlobe.

"Dear Lord, Charlie," groaned Valerie. "You can never get enough, can you?" She sat up, causing his hand to fall back to her stomach. "We've been at it like rabbits, four times already tonight. I'm done. I need rest," she said, avoiding his eyes. "Perhaps you should find yourself a new fuck buddy."

Charlie just stared at her, shocked, his erection fading just slightly. Without words, he got up and dressed. Without words, he left her apartment. This time he was sure he wasn't going to come back.

A little voice in his head though wouldn't shut up. _You weren't even this bad when you hit puberty hard, Charlie. You need something __**more**__._

When Charlie got back to the burrow it was 2:25. Predictably, Luna was still sitting at the kitchen table, two steaming mugs of hot chocolate set out. Inwardly he smiled. She was waiting for him. But he wasn't in the mood tonight. He was frustrated, still had a slight erection and couldn't handle all this blond hair tonight. He leaned against the doorframe and sighed. Luna looked up at him and smiled invitingly. _Damm those sparking eyes of hers._

"Not tonight Luna. Your questions will have to wait till tomorrow," he said, surprised how tired and resigned his voice sounded. He turned and walked towards the stairs, not wanting to see the disappointment on Luna's face. He feared that he had hurt her, rejected her like all those other people. He couldn't bear that. Perhaps he should leave and find a job somewhere the next morning. Get away.

Charlie had just reached the foot of the stairs when a small hand touched his arm. He froze.

"Are you alright?" asked a small voice next to him. _Great work mate_, he thought, _you refuse to talk to her and she comes and worries about you_. "Did your girlfriend ditch you?" continued Luna quietly. Her hand was still resting on his arm, soft and warm. Charlie slumped and gave up his defences. He was just so exhausted for no reason he could fathom.

"Yes. No. There was never a girlfriend," he mumbled. "Just let it be Luna." He could feel her hesitating. She was about to pull her hand away and leave him but she wasn't quite doing it.

"I'm sorry Charlie. Sometimes I get a little tactless." she whispered. He could hear her voice trembling. She was scared to have said something wrong. He felt anger welling up at him but quietly turned, taking her hand in his and squeezing it.

"Don't be. You can ask what you like. Good Night Luna," he said quickly and disappeared up the stairs.

Charlie didn't want to admit it but Valerie's rejection had hurt him. Not because he was emotionally attached to her but because he had started to doubt his attractiveness on women. _Why couldn't I turn her on?_ he kept wondering_. I'm fit right?_ But then he would remember that he was almost 30. 

That he was old. He stayed in bed for the whole day, looking his door and mumbling at people to go away. Luna turned up twice but he ignored her completely.

As day turned to night, Charlie tossed and turned. He was getting hungry. Finally, in the late evening he got up. Everyone was downstairs so he had a quick shower and headed back to his room. He didn't want to talk to people so he just waited, idly leaving through some old Quidditch magazines.

As midnight came and went, he could hear most people going to bed. Ginny had come and knocked again but again he had ignored her. Slowly, his hunger was getting almost painful. When at last all sounds in the house had died down, he tiptoed down to the kitchen. It was dark but he was familiar with his surroundings so he grabbed an apple and sat down on his normal seat. _Opposite where Luna would sit_, he thought and sighed_. It had actually been fun to talk to her about dragons_.

His apple was finished far too soon and he got up and walked to the counter again. Perhaps his mom had left him something to eat. Drawing out his wand for a bit of light, he looked around and sure enough he found a plate of sandwiches with a note.

_Dear Charlie,_

_Ginny told me about your girlfriend. That girl sure doesn't know what she's pushing away. _

_I figured you'd come for food later so I left you this._

_Love,_

_Mum_

With a smile, he picked up the plate, extinguished his wand and sat back down in his usual place. For some reason the darkness soothed him. He kept staring at the place opposite his, where Luna would sit. He shook his head.

"Feeling any better?" With a yelp Charlie toppled from his chair. "Lumos," came that same voice again. A voice Charlie knew oh so well. He muttered to himself while drawing himself back up. Slumping back down on his chair, he smiled a little.

"Good evening Luna," he said. He resigned himself to his fate. While he didn't really feel like talking to anyone, he had missed his nightly conversation with Luna. He took another sandwich and ate in quiet. Luna just stared at him. She was fiddling with her wand. Normally she would sit perfectly still. "What's wrong Luna?" he asked, waiting for the next question he wouldn't feel like answering.

"What – oh, nothing," she stopped fiddling. She waved her wand at the ceiling and then extinguished it. With one swift movement, she tucked it back behind her ear, pushing her long blond hair away. "Well, _are_ you feeling better?" she repeated, "it's not like I'll tell anyone". Charlie resigned himself to his fate.

"No," he sighed. "It's not about Valerie herself, you know. I just feel old." He didn't meet her eyes, not wanting to see the confirmation in them. He was old, just another old, lonely man. _Wait, where did lonely come from?_ said that little voice in his head. _I'm not lonely. I have a very fulfilled life._

"Why's that?" asked Luna. Charlie couldn't figure out what it was in her voice._ Probably pity. Never mind though, I certainly won't discuss my love life with his woman. Er – girl._

"It just is," he replied instead, knowing that especially to the inquisitive Luna, that wouldn't be a satisfactory answer. "Perhaps I'm just having my midlife crisis ten years too early," he continued with a half-hearted smile, trying to lighten the mood. When Luna didn't reply, Charlie resorted to staring at his hands instead.

"You haven't lived a quarter of your life and you feel old?" replied Luna, a bit astounded. "And anyhow, age is nothing but a number." Charlie chuckled slightly.

"That's youth's folly," he replied gradually. "You never realize what age is until you're old." They sat in silence for a few more minutes. _Oh Merlin, I need a fuck_, thought Charlie. _A good fuck to take those thoughts away._ Again, images for blond hair and sheets flashed before him and he suppressed a groan. Yes, those images always aroused him. He was a sucker for blond hair.

"Well, good night Luna," he said quietly, wanting and needing the privacy of his bedroom. He waved his wand to extinguish the lights again and quietly left the kitchen.

The next day, Charlie forced him to face the world again and had lunch with everyone. He refused to answer any questions and pretended nothing had happened.

"Luna dear, are you helping me with dinner again?" he heard his mother's voice dimly.

"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley. I actually have a date this evening and have to leave at five," replied Luna. "I hope that's not a problem."

"Oh of course not dear," gushed his mother. Dates always exited his mother. Charlie's mind though had gone blank. _Luna on a date, blond hair in the moonshine, who is the mystery man?_ he thought, incapable all of a sudden to form a complete thought.

After lunch, he headed down to the lake with everyone, still in a stupor. His stomach clenched and he had barely managed to eat anything. _Why do I even care if Luna dates someone? She's my baby sister's friend. My only worry should be telling her to be careful,_ he thought.

He lay on the grass away from the others who seemed to think his need for privacy arose from the fact that his 'girlfriend' – more like his fuck buddy, he mused – had ditched him. He stretched out and listened to the other's talk.

"Well, who is your date anyway, Luna?" asked Ginny after a while. Charlie listened more closely. That was an important piece of information. If he found out who it was he could find out how to beat him. _Wait. Why do I want to 'beat' Luna's date?_

"Well, you wouldn't actually know him, Ginvera," said Luna only to be shoved over by Ginny, outraged at that name. When they had finished laughing, Luna continued. "It's Owen Cauldwell. He's a Hufflepuff."

"Oh. I remember him!" squeeled Ginny in delight. "He's gorgeous. He's still at Hogwarts though, isn't he? Didn't he play on the Quidditch team too?"

"Yes," replied Luna. "He's a chaser." From there, their conversation wandered to clothes and hair.

Charlie had heard enough though and headed back to his room without a word to anyone.

There, he lay on his bed thinking. _A nice, considerate Hufflepuff. A toned gorgeous young Quidditch player. And I'm just an old man._ Eventually he started pacing, not even realizing that he had gotten himself quite the obsession with one blond Luna Lovegood.

When five o'clock came around, he stood by the window, waiting. Eventually, Luna left the house with Ginny. Luna was wearing a short muggle denim skirt and a low cut black top. She was obviously dressed for a night out. Her long blond hair had been curled and tied into a loose bun. Charlie could feel all rational thought leaving him as his blood rushed to his groin. There was only one thought left. _She can't go out like that!_ His protective instinct stirred. Despite the little voice in his head telling him otherwise, he blamed it on her being so close to his baby sister.

As he watched Luna aparate away, he was left with his thoughts again. He wondered when she would come back. Perhaps she'd even spend the night with this Owen. Charlie frowned. That'd be another midnight talk missed.

Suddenly it occurred to him. _I'm nothing but a bitter old man. A bitter, perverted, lonely old man, lusting after my baby sister's best friend._ It was only the little voice in his head that told him that what he was feeling wasn't lust. He decided to ignore it because what it suggested was even more wrong.

He took some sleeping pills he kept around. Even they tasted bitter. He growled in frustration. The thought though, remained with him. _Worth nothing. Just a bitter old man. _

* * *

**A/N**: This is definatly by new baby. I've got a whole bunch story lines planned out in my mind and can't stop writing. So tell me what you, my dear readers would like. Do I upload more? Where should it go? Is Luna good for Charlie? Or is Charlie good for Luna? Or should Luna hit of with that Owen guy? (Ick!)


	2. Avoiding the Issue

**Avoiding the Issue **

**A/N:** Well, this is going rather well and I'm absolutely in love with the story. Thing is, the title wasn't fitting anymore, so as of today, the story is titled _Blond Hair_ and the first chapter called _Bitter (Like a Lemon)_.

* * *

Charlie stayed up late into the night, just standing at his window. He felt empty and alone. This couldn't go on, he decided. He couldn't just lust over one blond Luna Lovegood and waste his life. He should be going out like any young man. Trying to override any thoughts that told him otherwise, Charlie decided that because he had skipped dinner, it was defiantly time for a midnight snack now.

Softly padding downstairs he grabbed one of the books Luna had left lying in the corridor and prepared himself a sandwich. Sitting on a bench before the burrow to escape the stifling heat inside, he opened the book at a random page. It was a book about dragon breeding. Charlie knew the facts by heat of course and just browsed through it while eating.

After a while, he heart steps on the drive way. _Must be Luna and that Owen_, he thought, trying to keep calm and not jump up and start a fight with that guy. The steps stopped at a cluster of trees and Charlie could hear them talking but no matter how he tried, he couldn't make out the words. Imagining Luna in another man's arms gave his stomach another jolt. He sat there for a while, listening to the distant chatter and laughter until the voices he heard became louder.

"Stop it Owen," said Luna with tears in her voice.

"Make me," replied what must be Owen with unmistakable mockery in his voice. Charlie frowned. Should he make sure everything was alright? Charlie got up and moved closer to the trees, the darkness hiding him.

"It's not meant to be like that," replied Luna, more quietly.

"Oh. Precious Loony Luna lecturing me?" taunted the boy. "You should know what's expected by now, people told me about you. Quite the fun they had."

"I thought you were different," sobbed Luna. Charlie started jogging. He wasn't wearing any shoes and the ground was rocky going but he was going to make that Owen pay. "I just want to be normal. Like everyone else," cried Luna. There was a sound of flesh hitting flesh. At this point, Charlie's mind went blank, filled only with rage.

"But this is normal, my dear," taunted Owen. "Everyone does it so you're practically asking for it."

Finally Charlie reached the couple. As they came into sight he stopped, unbelieving. Luna was lying on the ground, shirt torn so that her bra became visible. Her skirt was shoved up and Owen was kneeling above her, one knee shoved between her legs. His trousers where open, revealing his hard on. One of his hands kept Luna down, the other was tangled in her hair, trying to pull her up. Luna was fighting him with remarkable strength for someone so small.

"Stop," cried Charlie, pulling his wand out. He advanced towards the couple menacingly. Owen got up, his jacket covering his privates.

"So, you're the one who fucks her now?" he said with a sneer.

"What?" replied Charlie. Luna had crawled back and straightened her clothes as far as possible. She watched the two men with large eyes.

"Well, why else would you care if someone else does?" sneered Owen. "Loony Luna Lovegood isn't good for anything else, is she?" Something in Charlie snapped.

"Get OUT of here NOW," he roared, taking another step towards Owen.

"Now, now, no reason to get exited. I didn't know that she was your property," replied Owen, walking away slowly, holding his hands up.

"NOW. Or you're going to regret it," snapped Charlie and with a crack, Owen aparated. Charlie turned to Luna, kneeling down by her side.

"You okay?" he asked softly, reaching out to brush his hand over the angry red mark on her cheek.

"Yes, yes," muttered Luna, snapping out of her trance to grab her wand. With shaking hands she tried to clean her up as best as possible. "I can't believe I actually went out with someone from school, I should have known better." She shook her head.

"What was he talking about anyhow?" asked Charlie gently.

"Oh, nothing" replied Luna. It didn't seem like nothing to Charlie but she was still shaking and defiantly needed to calm down so he took her hands in his.

"Let's get back to the house," Charlie mumbled softly, helping her get up. He kept one strong arm around her as he walked her up the gravel path slowly.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" she asked softly when they had made it halfway.

"What? Luna, I don't think I can do that," he replied. "You need to report him anyways."

"No. It'd be to embarrassing," she argued, stopping and looking up at him.

"Luna, it's not embarrassing. No one would think less of you," he said. His heart clenched. She seemed so small and vulnerable then.

"Please," she whispered her grey eyes boring right into his soul.

"Why?" Charlie asked, although he realised it was a lost battle. He just couldn't deny her that. He watched as she slumped, looking more desolate and frightened than he had thought possible. "It's okay Luna. I won't tell if you don't want me to," he said quickly, wanting to reassure her. Luna looked up and gave him a weak smile.

"Thank you Charlie," she said. "Now are you good with household charms? This is Ginny's top. She'd ask questions." Charlie's mind reeled. His baby sister was wearing clothes like that? They looked good enough on women like Luna but Ginny was nothing but a girl!

"Sure. A Weasley almost has to be," he replied, trying to sound cool and laid back. With a quick wave of his wand, her clothes were mended.

The next morning, Charlie awoke early despite having been up so late. Luna had headed straight for bed, clearly not wanting to talk. Charlie had stayed awake till the early hours of the morning, wondering what Owen had meant with 'people told me about you' and with 'you should know what's expected of you'. He was angry which was probably the reason he couldn't sleep.

After having breakfast with everyone, most people headed out for Quidditch, Charlie included. After an hour or so though, he tired from it. Sitting under a tree he continued to watch his siblings and Harry. Of course, neither Hermione nor Luna played Quidditch. Hermione was sitting under another tree, completely absorbed in a book as usual. Charlie looked around, surprised that Luna wasn't around. She too had been reading last he had seen her but now she was gone. He frowned.

Soon it was lunch time and everyone was gathered in the kitchen. Charlie though, noticed that the seat opposite him was empty. _Would asking be too conspicuous? Would everyone would see me for what I truly am – a perverted, bitter old man?_ Charlie was plagued with doubts.

"Where's Luna?" asked Ginny. Charlie looked up, relieved that someone else had asked.

"Yeah, where's Luna, Charlie?" asked one of the twins.

"Spending plenty of time with her, eh?" continued the other. Normally, Charlie didn't mind their banter but tonight it got on his nerves thoroughly. To make matters worse, he could feel a blush creeping up the back of his neck – he had been spending plenty of time with the blond.

"Why would I know? I spend the whole day with you guys," replied Charlie, trying to sound innocent.

"Now, now. Luna had lunch a little early. She said she needed some privacy, so leave her alone boys," interrupted Molly with a sharp glance at Charlie. _Just great. Now even my mom looks weird at me_, he thought, his neck burning with embarrassment. Fortunately, the rest of the day passed quietly although Luna wasn't to be seen.

In the evening though, Charlie found himself back in his room, pacing in the limited space. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Charlie perked up. Perhaps Luna was coming to talk to him. He dismissed the thought as soon as it came though, it was just too unlikely.

"Charlie! We noticed you moping about –"

"And we thought you needed to be cheered up."

"So me and Forge here thought we have just the thing –"

"For you. You need to go out. Gred suggested we go –"

"To a wizarding place for a change," bantered the twins. Charlie rolled his eyes, as annoying as they were, his brothers meant well. He sighed.

"Well, Gred and Forge, if you must know, I was just getting ready to go out," he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Spiffing."

"Marvelous."

"Ten minutes."

"Meet us downstairs," continued the twins and as fast as they had come, they were gone again. Charlie dropped himself onto his bed. Going out with his little twin brothers, just _spiffing_. He sighed again – he seemed to be doing that a lot lately – and got up and changed into something more suitable to party.

The twins dragged Charlie into a wizarding club that had newly opened in Diagon Alley. It was dark, loud and smoky but there was a bar and it wasn't overly expensive. By midnight, Charlie was thoroughly drunk and had two blonds attached to him.

"I'm a sucker for blond hair," he told them, carefully pronouncing the words. They giggled. They hadn't said much at all, peroxide blond didn't seem to be too good on the brain.

A further hour later found him and the two blondes at the apartment they shared. Charlie had never been one for threesomes but he was too far gone to think about it and anyhow, he was a young man in his prime, wasn't he?

As one blond kissed him and trailed her hands under his shirt, the other was opening his trousers. With two bodies pressed against him, Charlie didn't find it difficult to respond accordingly. He moaned as his shaft was engulfed in a hot mouth while his mouth was being attacked by another one.

An hour later found Charlie in their bed with one blond cuddled up against, hands teasing his nipples, him while the other was riding him.

"Oh – yeessss," Charlie hissed. His eyes were half closed, all he saw was blond hair. "Oh Luna, yes," he whispered.

"What?" Charlie was ripped out of his fantasies by a high pitched voice. The bodies against him had stopped moving. He groaned.

"Does it matter?" he tried to reason. He really needed some release.

"Yes," hissed the blond on top of him agrily. She stared at him angrily as she moved off him. Cursing himself, Charlie rolled out of the bed and dressed. Without another word he left.

Aparating a little way from the Burrow, Charlie walked there. The night air helped sober him up a little and more importantly, helped him cool down. He frowned. He had failed in the bedroom _again_. He couldn't let this become a habit.

_Why did I think of Luna anyhow? Heaven, why did cry out her name? I know I have developed a thing for her but his is NOT good,_ he thought to himself. He was angry with himself. The young women would undoubtedly never speak to him again - if that wasn't already the case anyhow – if she knew what he was thinking.

He made sure to be quiet as he walked into the house, intending to head straight to his room. Habit though, and perhaps a bit of hope, had him looking into the kitchen first. Suprisingly, Luna was really sitting there. Charlie blinked twice before coughing to announce his presence.

"Oh, Charlie. I was just on my way to bed," said Luna hurriedly, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" asked Charlie in return, blocking the doorway. Luna looked up at him, startled. He missed the sing-song quality her voice usually had.

"Er –" she hesitated. Charlie snickered. "What?" she snapped, looking hurt.

"Sorry," replied Charlie. "It's just that you used to tease me about saying 'er' and now you're doing it yourself." He was serious again. "Well my dear, what's the matter?"

"I – I was just worried you'd want to talk about _it_," she said, her cheeks becoming a little more rosy. _Quite becoming, that blush_, thought Charlie.

"You don't want to talk about it, do you?" asked Charlie.

"No, I don't," replied Luna, standing in front of him, arms crossed.

"Well, I'm sure there's plenty of other things to talk about, isn't there? We managed pretty well before," continued Charlie conversationally, as he moved past Luna into the kitchen. He hummed a little as he got two cups out of the cupboard and made some tea. Luna stood still, dumbstruck. Slowly she turned and took her usual seat. Despite that, she sat on the edge of the seat only.

_Looks as if she's about to bolt any minute now. How insensitive a git does she think me to be?_ mused Charlie, as he sat a cup of tea in front of her. Sitting down too, he noticed her fidgeting and regretted that the comfortable ease with which they had used to sit together had vanished.

"Well, have you been reading anything interesting lately?" he ventured. His mind was still hazy from the drink and he couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say.

"I actually finished all the books you gave me a while ago," replied Luna. She took a sip from her tea, pursing her lips carefully to gauge how hot the drink was. Charlie looked at her surprised.

"Oh," he muttered. "Why didn't you say? I do have more," he said. Again that gentle blush crept across her cheeks.

"Well, I was avoiding you yesterday and before that you were avoiding the world," said Luna quietly.

"Oh. Is that why you came and knocked repeatedly? I'm sorry."

"No," Luna blushed even more. _Merlin's pants, amazing how even the most simple things can make her blush_, thought Charlie. "I was actually worried. You seemed so upset," replied Luna. Now it was Charlie's turn to blush. He could feel it, creeping up his neck. Taking a sip from his tea, he tried to think of something neutral to say. He failed miserably so he took another sip. _I really shouldn't drink that much, it makes me stupid_, he mused.

"Well, I'll get you something else to read tomorrow," he finally said rather lamely. "If you want to, that is." Luna broke into a grin and Charlie's heart warmed.

"Yes. Yes, I'd like that very much," replied the girl, still grinning.

"Well, I'm still rather drunk so I'm off to get some sleep. Good night Luna," said Charlie softly.

The next day, Charlie stayed in bed till long after lunch. He lay there, staring at the ceiling and tried to come to grips with the inevitable. He had a thing for Luna. Young, pretty and innocent Luna. He frowned. He'd been having the same conversation inside his head for hours. It was very likely that he was going crazy.

_We're both young and she deserves to be respected. _

_You're nine years older than her! She's your baby sister's best friend. _

_She's so gorgeous. All that blond hair. And that blush!_

_Quit it, you perverted old man. You'll only hurt her. _

_More that she's been hurt already? She needs love. _

_She needs a good fuck you mean?_

_No! She deserves so much more!_

_More than you! She deserves better. _

He sighed. Time to face life again. After having a shower, he gathered up some books that he thought might be of interest to Luna and headed downstairs. Dumping the books unceremoniously on the kitchen table, he looked around for something to eat but inevitably got in his mother's way. She was busy preparing dinner and snapped at her second eldest.

"Charlie! If you must sleep all day, you could at least not get in anyone's way!"

"Sorry mom," Charlie tried to look abashed but failed miserably. He grabbed an apple and was about to head out side to go for a walk.

"You could tell everyone that dinner is ready in half an hour," she shouted after him.

"Yes mom," Charlie replied, his mouth full. Charlie first headed up to where he could see his siblings playing Quidditch.

"Mom send me to tell you dinner is ready soon," he said, taking in that Hermione and Luna were missing. "Where's the girls?" he added. Ginny flew over and threw the quaffle at him. Charlie caught it easily.

"Do I not count as a girl?" she shouted at him, laughing.

"You're my baby sister. Of course you don't," joked Charlie. "And you're here anyhow, aren't you?"

"Hermione's inside, reading. Said we were too loud," shouted Ron from above.

"Luna went for a walk a while back. Round the lake I think," offered Ginny. She looked glad that it wasn't her turn to gather her siblings up.

Charlie started to walk towards the lake, hoping to catch sight of Luna. If he didn't, he'd have a long walk ahead of him. The lake wasn't exactly small. Predictably, he didn't see her. _Life can never be easy, can it?_ he thought to himself as he started walking.

When had had halfway circled the lake, he finally spotted Luna. She was sitting under a tread, back turned to him. She looked like she was crying. Charlie's heart missed a beat. _Why do I get stuck with the crying females?_ he grumbled quietly as he approached her despite wanting to comfort her.

Charlie hesitated. He didn't want to cause her discomfort. But it had to be done.

"Luna?" he said. She jumped up, trying to regain her composure. Her eyes were swollen and puffy. She sniffed. "Mom send me to say that dinner is ready soon," Charlie ventured, choosing to stay on safe ground. She had mentioned that she didn't want to talk the night before.

"Oh," muttered Luna, clearly discomforted. _Damm. This was bound to happen, wasn't it? Whatever do I do?_ Charlie shuffled his feet. _Well, no good acting like a schoolboy._

"Luna," he hesitated. "If you ever want to talk –" he gulped, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. "Well, you know where to find me," he smiled a little. Luna though, just stared at him. Slowly she nodded.

"Uh. Yeah. Thanks, I suppose," she muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"Well, see you at dinner then?" replied Charlie. He had decided that it was probably best if he left her alone for a while so she could regain her composure. Charlie slowly turned and made his way back to the house.

_I wonder what she was crying about? Was it that Owen? I still don't understand what he meant. What a bastard. Daring to touch a woman against her will._ Charlie was furious by the time he had reached the Burrow.

For the rest of the evening, both Charlie and Luna were very quiet. Charlie was lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out what he should do. Luna was absorbed in the books Charlie had given her. He 

smiled. Amazing how normal animals cold fascinate someone who had a slight obsession with the paranormal.

Later that night, Charlie went for a walk around the garden. He was tired but he needed to clear his head. After a walking around the lake once, he had decided that he would just go on as usual. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?

Charlie sat under a tree next to the lake, staring over the dark water. Suddenly a loud 'SPLASH' startled Charlie out of his reverie. On the far end, he saw two red heads above the water. He sighed. He didn't feel like talking so he hoped that whoever it was, wouldn't see him. It were defiantly siblings of him, there was no one else with red hair like that. Unluckily, the two figured came closer and closer.

A few minutes later, the twins were seated next to him, one on either side. They were dripping wet but pressed their bodies close to Charlie who tried to squirm away. Unfortunately, he did not stand a chance against his two brothers. When finally they were satisfied that they had done all towards their older brother's comfort, they grinned and backed off a little.

"Dear brother,"  
"We were wondering what it is,"  
"That has gotten you so down and sad lately,"  
"Could it be that it was your girlfriend,"  
"Valerie was her name,"  
"Who had dumped you rather unceremoniously?"  
"Because after we had forced you to go out again,"  
"Me and Gred here were thinking,"  
"That me and Forge here and cheered you up again,"

"STOP," Charlie almost shouted. "Stop it," he continued, quieter. "You two should be old enough to understand that Valerie – that Valerie was nothing but," he hesitated. They were his younger brother's after all.

"You're fuck buddy?" supplied one of the twins and Charlie cringed.

"Yes," he admitted.

"But surely _something_ is bothering you," continued the other twin. In the darkness he couldn't tell the difference, heck even in broad daylight it was difficult.

Charlie just grunted. He didn't want to talk about what was bothering him and even if he did, he wouldn't talk to the twins of all people. The only person he'd be willing to talk to was his big brother Bill. Charlie had always turned to Bill when something was bothering him. But Bill wasn't there.

"Chaaaarlie," one of the twins whined. They had never taken well to not knowing something.

"We can help you, you know," added the other one.

"Perhaps we should 'help' him tell us," there was an evil glint in the twin's eyes.

"Oh no, no you won't," gasped Charlie, holding his hands up. But the twins had already proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. Charlie couldn't take it for long.

"Oh, okay, I surrender," he gasped. Quick as lightning the twins were off him, staring at him expectantly. Charlie sighed. "It's just –" he hesitated. Would it really be wise to tell them? He wouldn't mention Luna's name of course. The twins poked him gently. "Well, there's this woman you know," he said, trying to stop himself from smiling.

"A woman eh? What do you think, Gred?"

"Well, I think our dear older brother is in luuuuuv," the twins laughed.

"Well? Details, brother mine."

"Well, she's pretty and sweet. She's been treated bad in the past and I don't want to hurt her. She doesn't seem to like men much," said Charlie. "She's fascinated with dragons too," now he just couldn't stop himself from smiling. The image of Luna sitting with a book on her lap, her blond hair cascading down her back and large grey eyes focused on the page, warmed his heart.

"Dragons, eh?" laughed the twins. Charlie wondered if he had said too much.

"She must be that Romanian girl then," the continued joking.

"And now Charlie is down cause she's faaaar away."

Charlie looked down at his hands, not answering. The twins took that for acquiesce. After joking a little more, the three siblings headed back to the Burrow.

The next two days passed quietly. Luna often went for walks around the lake alone and although Charlie longed to talk to her, he left her alone. There were no more midnight talks, no more cups of tea, nothing. Charlie feared that the blond was avoiding him and so it was a great relief when Bill and Fleur returned from their honeymoon.

Mrs Weasley had prepared a large meal as a celebration of her 'baby's' return. The whole family was gathered in the garden when Bill and Fleur finally arrived. It was loud and Charlie was seated away from both Bill and Luna, the two people he wanted to talk to most. _I'm a fool. Why am I telling Bill? He'd tell people. He'd call me crazy._ Charlie was close to panicking.

Towards the end of the evening, Charlie finally managed to signal to his older Brother that he wanted to talk and the two of them went for a quiet walk around the lake.

"So Charlie, what's on your mind?" said Bill conversationally. "You've been rather quiet all evening."

"Bill, promise you won't tell anyone. Please," blurted out Charlie. He was trembling. _What if Bill hates me? What if he agrees that I'm a perverted old man?_

"Calm down Charlie. Unless you've taken to molesting Ginny, I won't tell anyone," laughed Bill. Even Charlie had to laugh a little. He trusted Bill.

"I'm confused," began Charlie and hesitated. Bill stayed quiet. His patience was reassuring. "I think I'm in love, Bill," Charlie whispered. This time it was Bill's turn to hesitate.

"Isn't love a good thing, Charlie?" he asked. Charlie sensed that Bill was genuinely confused.

"Normally it is," replied Charlie. "Just not this love. It's not right. She'd only end up hurt."

"Charlie. I don't think you're even capable of hurting a woman. You sleep around but all the women know that they're only fuck buddies. You've never lead someone on."

"She's different. Bill, she's been treated bad. She won't trust me. She won't love me. She'll only be hurt," whispered Charlie. He had started to tremble again and hugged himself as if he were cold. The brothers walked in quiet for a while.

"It's Luna, isn't it?" asked Bill suddenly. Charlie stopped in his tracks, startled. "It's not that difficult for someone who knows you. You've been staring at either me or her all evening and I sincerely hope you don't think of me that way," Bill joked but stopped and turned back, noticing that Charlie looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights.

"Do you think, do you think the others know?" asked Charlie, sick and afraid. The little voice in his head kept shouting '_bitter, perverted, old man'_ at him and he didn't think he'd be able to stand the looks he'd get.

"Charlie! Calm down. No one knows. What's the problem anyhow? She's a nice enough girl, isn't she?" asked Bill, seemingly genuinely alarmed.

"That's the problem Bill. She's a girl. She's our baby sister's best friend and I'm a perverted old man," whispered Charlie. "She'd hate me if she knew. She probably hates all men anyhow."

"Sit down Charlie," his older brother urged, pulling Charlie down to sit next to him. "Tell me what happened." Charlie relaxed. Bill wasn't judging him. He told Charlie what had happened since Luna had arrived, from giving her things to read to their midnight talks and Valerie dumping him. He also told him of Luna's date and Owen's mysterious words.

"And she's been avoid me ever since. I promised not to talk about it, I never got to close to her and yet she's avoiding me like the plague," concluded Charlie, desolate. Bill slung his arm around his younger brother's shoulder, hugging him close.

"Charlie, you're one of the best men I know. Give yourself some credit. Or at least the benefit of doubt," said Bill at last. "I'm sure she likes you, she stays up late to talk to you, she was worried when you were dumped and she was looking at you tonight too."

"Please don't joke, Bill," Charlie choked.

"Charlie! I wouldn't, you know that. Why don't you just go for it?" Bill was truly shocked. He'd never seen his brother so resigned.

"Didn't you listen to me? I'm a perverted old man for even thinking of her like that. I'm almost thirty and she isn't even twenty!"

"And like Luna I will tell you that you're that you haven't lived a quarter of your life. You're nine years older, so what? I'm seven years older than Fleur too!" Bill was desperate to make his brother see sense. It seemed that Charlie really did have a thing for this girl. But his younger brother only sighed.

"It's not as easy as that Bill. Fleur is a woman who is aware of her charms and knows how to play them. Luna would run in fright!," Charlie's voice cracked. _So what if she never looks at me like that! I'm all grown up. I can take it, _or at least he thought he could.

"Well don't come on her too hard mate. Just take it easy. Send her flowers, anonymous if you want and see how she reacts. Go back to talking to her. Take it slow and give her a chance to react," suggested Bill. "I'll be here for a week or so, I'll make sure you do it right." Bill's voice was resolute. It seemed that Charlie didn't have a choice.

"I'll start off with talking to her, I suppose," Charlie conceded after a while. "Just some midnight talks. Just the way it used to be." _If only things could go back to the way they used to be. They used to be so easy. _

The next day, Charlie went for a drink at the pub with some old friends from school. When he came back, around the time he had done before, he was not surprised to find Luna awake, reading in the kitchen. She was chewing her lower lip, looking quite nervous.

"Hi Luna," Charlie ventured as he walked into the kitchen, making himself some tea. Luna had jumped up from her seat when he had entered, grabbing the book. "Do you want a cup too?" asked Charlie interrupting her escape.

"Uh – well, I was just about to head to bed. Blue Toed Valley Snails are particularly nasty during this time of the day," she rushed. Charlie stared at her incredulously. Most of the animas Luna believed in were typical myths to frighten children but this was just ridiculous! Luna stared back.

"Blue Toed Valley Snails? Now you're being ridiculous Luna. You've been avoiding me. Why?" blurted Charlie. It hurt him that Luna would resort to lying to get away from him and it showed that there really was something that she was hiding. Luna blushed in that most attractive way. To Charlie's relieve, she didn't bolt but walked back to the table.

"A cup of tea might be nice," she said quietly. Charlie placed on in front of her and sat down at his own seat. "I'm sorry Charlie," she added, "I just - I didn't want to - you've been so nice and then I-" She blushed slightly and took a sip of her tea. Charlie gave her time to gather herself.

"Luna, didn't I say I wasn't going to press the issue? Why should our midnight talks be affected? Why should you avoid me?" Charlie asked, desperate for an answer, when it became evident that she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"It's not just that. Things aren't always that easy," Luna looked down at her hands. Her grey eyes were brimful with tears. Charlie felt his innards clench, he hated to see Luna like this.

"Well, what is it then Luna?" he asked slowly, trying to restrain himself. It wouldn't do to be over zealous and scare her. The silence between them stretched. Luna shifted uncomfortably.

"It's - I'm so sorry but -" she started finally. Charlie waited, trying to appear patient. "It's because you're a _man_," whispered Luna finally, mortified. Charlie stared at her. _My __**gender**__ is the problem? I've never hated the fact that I'm a man quite so much. In fact, I've never regretted my sex before. Oh Luna! I wish I could change it just for you. Just to make you feel better._ Luna was trebling. Suddenly a tear trickled down her cheek and Charlie was next to her in an instant, kneeling next to her chair and reaching out to her.

"Luna - I'm not like that. I wouldn't -!" he was at a loss for words. Luna relaxed in his arms, suddenly breaking down and crying. He held her, as she cried, pulling her onto his lap. They sat like that for what seemed like hours. Charlie relished the closeness of Luna, the way she had burrowed her head in his shoulders and the way her small arms were wrapped around him. Even when Luna had calmed down, Charlie kept his arms tightly around her and she didn't protest either, staying warm and safe in his arms.

After the most deliciously long time Charlie felt Luna start to move and relaxed his arms. Slowly she got up and walked out of the kitchen without a word. Charlie growled. He didn't like it but it was a start.

**A/N**: Yes, I realise this is shorter than the first chapter. I have so many ideas but still got a bit of writer's block. So it'd be awesome if you told me what you thought of this chapter. Did it all make sense? Are you cleverer than Charlie? Do I need to explain about what happened with Luna and Owen? Do Charlie and Luna finally get together in the next chapter? So many questions and no answers!


	3. A Rose By Any Other Name

**A Rose By Any Other Name **

**A/N:** This is a rather short chapter written for the "Coloured Roses" challenge over at Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges. Of course, it still fits into the whole context! It's a bit more... humorous. Excuse the mood, please.

And thanks to everyone who reviewed! Reviews are a great source of motivation. Who knows where this story would be without reviews!

The next morning, Charlie woke up early. His dreams had been flooded with memories of Luna's sweet and soft body pressed against his as she had cried. He remembered the feeling of her hair beneath his hands and the smell of her shampoo. She smelled of wild roses and fresh hay. He loved it.

Suddenly Charlie had an idea and literally jumped out of bed. Pausing only to pull on some trousers, he ran to Bill's room. He knocked but entered without waiting for an answer. Of course, Bill was still fast asleep.

"BILL. WAKE UP!" Charlie didn't even realise he was shouting and almost bouncing with excitement. Startled, Bill sat up in bed and grabbed his wand.

"What happened?" he said, looking around anxiously. Seeing Charlie's exited grin he relaxed. "Bloody hell Charlie. Did you wake me to tell me you finally got laid or what?" he grumbled. Charlie was unfazed and jumped onto Bill's, barely missing his brother and thereby saving him from the unfortunate fate of having his to-die-for body being crushed by Charlie's even more gorgeous one.

"BIIIIIILLLLL," shouted Charlie, placing his hands on his slender hips, pretending to be outraged. This involved a lot of huffing and puffing, rolling his brilliantly blue eyes and throwing his fiery red hair about. Bill couldn't help it. He laughed. Eventually Charlie joined in, his hair flying in every which direction.

"So Charlie, what IS the matter with you? You haven't been this giddy since you _did_ get laid, and that for the first time," laughed Bill.

"Weeelllll, if you absolutely must know-" started Charlie, savouring the moment.

"CHARLIE WEASLEY. YOU WAKE ME UP AT THIS UNGODLY HOUR SO YOU TELL ME THIS INSTANT," shouted Bill. Charlie's mood was infectious. Bill grabbed his brother and turned over. Now Bill was straddling Charlie and proceeded to tickle him mercilessly.

"Okay, okay," gasped Charlie. Bill relented but still kept his little brother pinned down. "I just have this great idea. G r e a t!" He grinned like a dork.

"Idea for what? Tell me, Charlie Weasley or do you _want_ to be tickled to death?"

"To court Luna," gasped Charlie. Bill grinned rather slyly. He got up and too pulled on some pants.

"Well, what's your oh so brilliant idea?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking of flowers," said Charlie.

"Flowers? That's so - _normal_. So _boring_," said Bill, staring disbelievingly at his little brother. _What if he's right? What if she'll be bored by it? What if she hates it?_ thought Charlie, his face falling.

"No, no, tell me what you were thinking," interjected Bill quickly upon seeing that, almost as if he could read Charlie's thoughts.

"Well, I was thinking of sending her roses with meaning," said Charlie. "Anonymously of course."

"What do you mean 'with meaning'?"

"My big brother Bill, ever the romantic," laughed Charlie. "You know how different coloured roses mean different things?" Bill nodded. "I was thinking of sending her different coloured ones, one after the other. To arrive in the afternoon when I can see how she reacts."

"Oh," said Bill, "now you're starting to make more sense. What are you going to do if she reacts positively?"

"Well, perhaps I'll give her hints or something. I haven't thought about that part yet," confessed Charlie.

"You have time to think about that though, haven't you?" prodded Bill. "Just go for it."

"Well, I will but to be honest, I don't really have that much time left. I have 5 more days. Or I have to extend my holiday. Which I was going to do anyways," replied Charlie, ending on a slightly defensive note.

"You do that, little brother," laughed Bill.

That afternoon, the Weasley siblings were showing their friends the nearby wood. It was beautiful and quiet - or had been before they had arrived. Now the woods where filled with laugheter as the twins had let go some fireworks, turned Harry's hair green - "goes lovely with your eyes, mate!" - and Hermione was shrilly lecturing them.

Charlie and Bill were sitting at the edge of a clearing just close enough to Ginny and Luna to still be able to hear them.

"So Luna, how did your date with Owen go anyways? You never told me," asked Ginny. Charlie winced. Not a good topic at all.

"Not too good. I guess he wasn't the one. May the nargles bite him," replied Luna sounding almost normal.

"Oh Luna! I'm so sorry, he's an ass, that's what," said Ginny, hugging her friend. "So what would your ideal man be like?"

"I don't know. He'd have to go look for the Cruple-Horned-Snorkack with me from time to time. And he'd love animals," replied Luna.

"LUNA! That's not what I meant and you know it. I always wanted a tall, dark haired hunk. Strong but not too many muscles," Ginny sighed dreamily. "And that's what I got, isn't it?" she laughed. Luna joined in.

Their conversation was interrupted by the hooting of an owl that swept down between the trees. It landed in front of Luna, a long, thin, brown parcel tied to its leg.

"So fast, brother? You really must be desperate," whispered Bill with a small laugh.

"Well, what are you waiting for Luna! It has your name on it! Untie it already!" Ginny was saying to Luna at the same time, clapping her hands. Luna was eyeing the parcel suspiciously. She reached out slowly and untied the parcel and immediately the owl flew off again.

The twins and Hermione too had come over, curious. Charlie tried to feign boredom but failed miserably. _What if she doesn't like it? What if she panics? What if she knows it's me? What if she hates me?_

Finally, Luna untied the parcel deftly. Out fell a white rose and a small card. Luna looked quite surprised. She quickly picked up the card and busied herself reading it. Charlie knew what it said.

_Dear Luna, _

_white roses symbolize innocence, they mean "you're heavenly",  
they are just like you. _

_with love,  
anonymous _

Luna was speechless and had handed the card on to Ginny who then handed it to Hermione.

"Well Luna, who is it?" asked Ginny, grinning at her friend.

"I don't know," replied Luna, quietly, obviously still surprised.

"You have an anonymous admirer and don't know who it is?"

"Well, he didn't exactly sign his name, did he?"

"Yes. But - well, what about Owen?"

"No."

"Just 'no'? What not?"

"I know him better than that," Luna almost snapped. Ginny looked a bit taken back.

"Well, what do you think then?"

"Mmmm. It's cute if he's honest. I doubt that though," replied Luna with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Charlie relaxed against a tree and closed his eyes.

"Well brother, what do you make of her reaction?" whispered Bill.

"It's good," said Charlie with a smile. "Now I just have to convince her that I _am_ honest. That I'm not Owen," he finished with a hint of sadness.

Luna had picked up the rose and put it behind her ear, just like she often did with her wand. _Perhaps she likes it. Perhaps she's pleased. Girls do like flowers, don't they?_ thought Charlie and was grinning for the rest of the day.

**A/N:** Short and sweet, eh? Charlie will send her more flowers but I need to work out how I'll narrate that. Also, don't expect an update until September 10th or so because I'll be in the US from Wednesday until September 7th. On Spetember 17th I'll be moving to England to go to Uni there and will be busy with settling in, Fresher's week (PARTY!) and studying. I thought that the flower's scene here would be a nice way to start the little hiatus. I will update before moving but I can't promise more than that.


	4. Facing the Truth

**A/N:** Well, it's been a while, eh? Life's been a bitch… I noticed some typos in my previous chapters but I don't think I'll be fixing them soon. I also noticed that there were two more mistakes: I never mentioned Percy when listing the Weasley brothers… I blame that on his betrayal of his family. Also, Charlie goes bouncing into Bill's room but actually they should share a room. I blame it on Bill's married status. Why he wasn't in bed with Fleur? Well, she got up early. I also never mentioned where Luna was staying… she's staying in Ginny's room with Ginny and Hermione.

**AND thanks for all the reviews. xxx** They really got me motivated to continue with that. I know how I hate to be left hanging midway into a story and it reminded me how much I loved this story.

This part is a bit more angsty. I promise, I limited it as much as possible and future chapters will be light and fluffy again. This chapter is also slightly short but I'm back on track with writing and I thought a little bit is better than nothing!

_Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes._

_Clare Ansberry, The Women of Troy Hill_

Charlie couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. The thing with the flowers had certainly seemed to go well. That evening, while everyone was downstairs, he tiptoed up to the Ginny's room, where Luna stayed with the other two girls. Luckily for him, the window stood open. If he left something, people would assume a delivery owl had left it there. Gently, he placed some flowers and a card on Luna's pillow.

He slipped into his own room and got changed for another night out. He needed the release to maintain his calm around Luna. _That's right, mate. Can't go round wound up like that round the little girl, you'd molest her._ Firmly, Charlie told his inner voice to shut up. Hurrying down the stairs – he did want to be back at around 2am after all – he grabbed his coat. Suddenly he remembered something and stuck his head into the living room.

"Hey mom, I extended my holiday. Haven't taken time off work for so long, I'm really enjoying it. I'm here for 2 more weeks, send the owl of this morning," he shouted across the room. In his hurry he left so quickly that he missed his mother's thrilled response and Bill's knowing smile.

Two o'clock came much too quickly in Charlie's opinion. He was outside a club snogging another peroxide blond. Although he very much wanted to accompany her home, he couldn't bring himself to do it now. He wanted to talk to Luna.

"Have to stop," he muttered against bright red lips. _Really, such a slutty colour, Luna would never_… a traitorous voice in his head muttered.

"But Chaaaarlie," the blond whispered seductively, "we only just got started." Charlie grinned and gave her large boobs another squeeze.

"Never said I wanted to stop," he chuckled, "but I've got a job interview tomorrow and need to be well rested." He kissed her again. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

Charlie arrived the burrow pleased at having arranged another date for tomorrow evening. He walked into the kitchen and smiled at Luna sitting there with two cups of hot chocolate.

"Hi there," he said softly.

"Hi Charlie," she smiled and his heat gave a little lurch. "How's your day been?"

"Great. Relaxing. Although now I have two more weeks of that," he said, leaning back in his chair and smiling at the prospect of staying around a little longer. "And yours?" he asked, hoping against all odds that she'd mention the flowers. He really wanted to know what she thought.

"Nice," she said softly. "I've been writing a few job applications although I really don't know what I want to do."

Their conversation flowed slowly from there for a while, interrupted by only a few awkward pauses, talking about various jobs, neither mentioning Luna's strange views.

"I'm actually quite hungry," Charlie said suddenly. "Are there any leftovers form dinner?" he asked, getting up and walking to the fridge.

"Yes, there are. But be careful, there's plenty of bacteria in there. They thrive in leftovers," Luna said, reverting back to her normal dreamy state. Charlie was so caught up in the joy that she was her old self again, if only for a moment, that at first he didn't even register what she said.

"Bacteria?" he questioned hesitantly, when he did.

"Yes," she said smiling. "You know nothing about bacteria? Really, I thought you were a modern wizard." Again, Charlie was caught off guard.

"Er – I am?" it came out as more of a question and he cursed himself inwardly for stuttering again. He didn't want to offend her sensibilities by saying that bacteria were just a silly muggle myth. He doubted that even Hermione with her muggle background still believed in bacteria!

Luna laughed and suddenly nothing else mattered to Charlie. Their conversation flowed back easily to the books she had been reading – probably while the couples had been making out.

When the clock chimed 3am though, Charlie stretched and yawned.

"I've really got to go to bed. I've got a job interview tomorrow afternoon," he said.

"Oh really? I thought you still worked in Romania?" asked Luna.

"I do, but there's this new reserve opening in Wales. It'd be so much closer to home and it'd be much more of a challenge as well. I might get transferred," he said, excitement being evident in his voice.

"Oh really? You'll have to tell me all about it tomorrow," said Luna, grey eyes sparkling.

They said their good-nights and Charlie climbed back into his bed, satisfied at how the day had turned out.

The next day Ginny and Charlie were sitting in the garden, enjoying the sunshine. The others were all busy and the siblings shared a few moments of peace and quiet.

"Charlie?"

"Mmm?" Charlie had his eyes closed and was dozing.

"You talk to Luna regularly, don't you?" Ginny asked, hesitantly.

"I talk to her when I get back at night, yes," replied Charlie, suddenly wide awake. He kept his eyes closed though and his expression carefully guarded.

"Well, did she ever mention that she was – seeing someone?"

"No, why?" Charlie was intrigued. He hoped that this would be about the flowers and feared that it would be about some _other_ _man_.

"Well, remember that rose she got yesterday?" asked Ginny and continued when Charlie nodded, "well, last night there was a whole bouquet of flowers on her pillow, along with a card. Looked professional." Ginny paused. Charlie couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't give him away. After a moment, Ginny blurted out, "Well, don't you want to know what kind of flowers they were?"

"What kind of flowers were they?" asked Charlie, his expression still guarded.

"Oh, they were lovely," gushed Ginny. "Asters and gardenias! A perfect mix of white and purple. Did you know that asters stood for love and daintiness? And gardenias stand for being lovely and for SECRET LOVE!" Ginny squealed, clearly exited. "It's SO romantic!"

"And she didn't tell you who her boyfriend is?" asked Charlie, desperate for more information of _any_ kind.

"No! She said there _wasn't_ a boyfriend! That she had no idea who they were from!" Ginny was clearly exited over the mystery and started babbling about how Harry was never that romantic. Eventually Charlie stopped listening, pleased that he at least, had been successful at being romantic.

When Charlie left for his interview, he stopped at the flower shop again. He was quite pleased with himself, that he had managed to place the flowers on Luna's pillow before, but he didn't want to risk being found out just yet. He arranged for some more flowers to be delivered immediately. Although of course, he'd have loved to see Luna's face when she received them, he decided against it. For one, he didn't want to wait until tomorrow, and neither did he want to be too suspicious.

His interview being in the late afternoon, he went straight from there to his date.

His date with the girl went well and soon enough they found themselves in her apartment. After several hours, they collapsed on the bed, tired and worn out.

"Arghhhh…" Charlie groaned and stretched. He really was tired. His gaze travelled to the clock. Two-thirty. He lay back. He sat back up. It still said two-thirty.

"Fuck," he cursed, untangling himself from the sheets.

"Tomorrow morning Charlie, I can't fuck anymore tonight," mumbled the blond next to him.

"Sorry, got to go," replied Charlie, already half dressed. The girl sat up, her blond hair billowing forwards, covering her breasts but only just. _Such a tease_, thought Charlie.

"If you really want to, we can go again now," she whispered but Charlie was already making his way out.

By the time Charlie got back to the Burrow, it was 2:50. Silently he cursed himself for falling asleep. _Just admit it mate, it's not about the dates but about being able to have a little midnight chat with Luna. _His inner voice was tormenting him. His heart clenched at the thought of her not being there, of Luna being disappointed, of Luna turning to someone else… he shook his head and walked in.

She was there.

Just as always, two cups of tea although they looked pretty cold by now.

"Hi Luna," said Charlie, smiling again. At his words she looked up.

"Hi Charlie," she replied. She had been crying.

"Are you alright?" Charlie voiced, hesitantly. He was worried. Why would she cry? Surely he'd been doing whatever he could to make her happy? Surely any girl would be happy after receiving flowers? Unless the asshole had turned up again. But he wouldn't Charlie was sure he had scared Owen that night.

"I'm fine," replied Luna, her voice cracking. She sniffed.

"You aren't."

"Well, you where there when I got that rose, right?" mumbled Luna, burying her face in her hands. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah," he added vaguely, when he realized that she couldn't hear him.

"Well, I got some more flowers since," said Luna. "Twice."

"I see," said Charlie, at a loss. Why did women have to be so confusing?  
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" he added, hesitantly.

"Well, according to Ginny it's good but she doesn't know about Owen, does she?" mumbled Luna. "She said they might have been from him. Of course she thinks that'd be good but it wouldn't be but she mustn't know!" Luna added, rushing the words as if afraid she would lose the courage to voice them.

"What makes you think it was Owen?" asked Charlie, surprised. He hadn't thought that Owen might come into the game this way.

"Well, who else would it be?" Luna said. "And it's their only way to get me back, charm me," she mumbled, so quietly that Charlie almost didn't hear.

"They?" asked Charlie, confused. _Great, three's company_, he thought. Bad enough to be have competition in the form of Owen but more? Charlie realized, for the first time, what a nasty feeling jealousy could be.

"Well, did you think that someone like Owen would act on their own? Even if infected by kermafs, he wouldn't be so bold on his own!" replied Luna, a bit of fire returning to her voice, if only in anger. Charlie though, was still quite confused. And kermafs? What the hell were _kermafs_?

"You mean there were – " he paused, the thought sinking in, "there were others? Others who – " he swallowed hard, "others who hurt you?" Finally, Luna looked up.

"Didn't you hear what he said that night? I thought you heard," she whispered, grey eyes locking with his blue ones. Charlie's brain went into overdrive. What had he heard that night?

"_Stop it Owen." _

"_Make me." _

"_It's not meant to be like that."_

"_Oh. Precious Loony Luna lecturing me? You should know what's expected by now, people told me about you. Quite the fun they had."_

"_I thought you were different. I just want to be normal. Like everyone else."_

"_But this is normal, my dear. Everyone does it so you're practically asking for it."_

"I remember," he said cautiously. "I didn't think about it. I was angry. He hurt you!" Charlie said, his voice filling with outrage. Luna said nothing. Charlie swallowed hard, again.

"So there were people who actually – actually hurt you?" he finally whispered, his heart clenching. The thought of people doing _things_ to his Luna! His Luna? Where did that thought come from? He would think about it later. For now, he had more pressing concerns, like the blond in front of him. Luna was shivering and hugged herself. Charlie had to fight the urge to reach out to her from his seat across the table. Luna was still staring at him. Finally she hung her head.

"No one must know Charlie, please? They'd hate me," she whispered. Charlie fought the urge to assure her that they would no hate her for what was done to her but she slight blush in her face told him that she was ashamed as it was.

"Okay," he assured her gently.

Hours later, Charlie still lay awake in bed, thinking over what Luna had told him. She had been a wreck but he hoped that telling someone would have been good for her. He wondered how she had been so _normal_ – well, normal for Luna anyhow – before the Owen incidence. He marvelled at her optimism for he now realised that that and a general sense of good-will where what made Luna who she was – she didn't want to believe that something wasn't true, that something was _impossible_.

She had told him about the guys in her and sometimes higher years, how they'd touched her, forced her to service them – loony Luna, it wouldn't matter with _her_. He growled at the thought. _How can anyone treat a woman like that, no matter what they personally think of them!,_ he thought.He couldn't wrap his mind around the thought that someone would actually force a woman. It was _wrong_.

He barely slept that night and got up early the next day. After a hard working-out on his broom, he showered and joined the family for breakfast. Luck had him sitting next to Luna. Breakfast, compared to other Weasely meals, was quiet and so Charlie pretended, just like Luna, that nothing had happened.

After the meal though, Charlie offered to help do the dishes with the girls and while Hermione and Ginny talked about Ron and Harry, Charlie got a moment with Luna.

"Luna?" he said quietly.

"I don't want to talk about it Charlie," Luna said just as quietly.

"I just wanted to say –" Charlie hesitated, "I know who the flowers where from. You don't need to worry about it."

Startled, Luna turned. "You do? Who is it? Is he infected with kermafs?" she said, trembling.

_Kermafs_? Charlie thought, confused. _Oh, she mentioned them before, didn't she_?

"No, I don't think he is. I can't tell you though," he replied. "He – er – he'd not be pleased if I did," he said, trying not to lie to her. Luna laughed softly.

"You did it again," she said. "You er-ed" at this she giggled some more. Even Charlie couldn't resist sniggering.

"Do you want him to stop?" he asked, "I can let him know you aren't interested," he said, his heart breaking at the thought of her saying 'yes'. Luna hesitated. Charlie's heart sank.

"Can you – can you tell him to give me a week to think about it?" she asked tentatively.

"Sure thing," said Charlie, hope rekindling in his chest.

"Hey, you too! What are you talking 'bout?" came a shout from Ginny. The pair looked at each other and simultaneously answered.

"Dragons."

**A/N: **Charlie's quite the manwhore, eh? Gotta love a good fuck. Aside from that, I hope everyone found the bacteria thing funny. Luna's not quite as loony as people think. I'm studying for exams right now and one of my modules deals with bacteria and such so I just… put it in. Just a little joke.

Does everything else make sense? What else do you want to see? More Bill/Ginny/twins/someone else? Should I stop teasing them and just let Luna and Charlie get together?

Reviews much appreciated.


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